Teenagers

I got good news and bad news. The good news is that Hibiscuspaw isn't acting like a kit in this thread. The bad news is that she's acting like a teenager. Run for your lives. I titled the thread after the song Teenagers by My Chemical Romance.

thread here_>>>>

Hibiscuspaw had waited about a week after her and Leafstar’s last encounter before approaching him again. And when she did, she made sure it was when Seapaw was out surfing. Seapaw could scarcely be seen not by Leafstar’s side. But there were exceptions. And this was one of them. “Hey Leafstar, you up for a training session now?” She asked, calling into his den.

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Leafstar rose from his bedding and licked his fur down.  The leader recognized Hibiscuspaw's voice. He considered welcoming her in, but, assuming what she wanted to ask of him, Leafstar instead padded over to his den' entrance and met the apprentice there.  "Good morning, Hibiscuspaw," Leafstar greeted.

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"Morning Leafstar, today good for you?" Asked Hibiscuspaw eagerly. Her paw had all healed up and she was more than ready for a training session with him. She hoped it would be good.

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Leafstar already could guess what Hibiscuspaw was getting at, what she wanted.  But he wasn't so sure if he was willing. Either way, nothing could stop him from feigning ignorance and, just maybe, having a bit of fun.  "Good for what?" Leafstar asked.

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“You really aren’t a morning person, aren’t you? That was the very first thing I said to you.” Said Hibiscuspaw with a small chuckle. She would reschedule for a night session, but that was more likely to bump into Seapaw, and that was the last thing that she wanted.

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Leafstar shifted on his paws. This was far too early in the morning for him. He secretly thanked Mysticdream for having Nightfrost and Jellyray around to help manage things in the clan.  "Ah yes, training," Leafstar murmured.  "And what about Redflower?  Where is she?"

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“Probably fishing.” Said Hibiscuspaw with a wave of her tail. “That doesn’t overly matter right now though. You said you’d give me one training session.” She’d much rather train with the leader. Even if it was only for one session. She had her plans afterall. And she planned to fulfill them.

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"Hmph," Leafstar snorted. "I /did/ promise that... but I also didn't say /when./"  Leafstar cast Hibiscuspaw a sideways glance and anticipated her reaction. "All right, okay, fine.  Why don't we go fishing?" he joked.

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“Because I don’t want to. And that being said. Even though you know that she is fishing, you don’t know where she’s fishing. Or if she’s even fishing at all. Or hell, maybe she’s in the warrior’s den sleeping off some prey I dosed to make her sleep the day away.” As a cat who frequented the medicine cat den on a very nearly daily basis, she did pick up a few things.

She didn’t remember the name of the herb in question, but she knew a certain herb did make cats very very sleepy. But there was also the fact that she was royally messing with him. She hadn’t done such a thing. Though from the way she was speaking, he might be very well convinced.

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Leafstar's eyes widened in surprise and then squinted with suspicion. It'd be ludicrous to even consider what Hibiscuspaw said was true.  But still.  Leafstar padded out of his den and took a couple tentative steps toward the warriors' den. "You're not being serious, are you?"

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“Who can say?” Sneered Hibiscuspaw, throwing in a small diabolical chuckle as she did so. “There’s only one way to find out.”

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His tail twitching from side to side, Leafstar started to walk towards the warriors' den. "Yes, there is."  The leader led the way there taking confident strides. Though, in his head, Leafstar couldn't shale the feeling of doubt growing in his chest. Arriving at the den, Leafstar tipped his head forward. "You first."

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Hibiscuspaw shadowed him along the way, looking extra spooky as she did so. Creeeeepy. Hibiscuspaw then strode ahead as she was bidden, fixing her gaze on Redflower’s empty nest. The moment he stepped in to see if Redflower was in she turned around her grim gaze fell into a much more playful one. “Made you look!”

 

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Leafstar breathed an inward sigh of relief. He shouldve known better. Hibiscuspaw might have her issues with Redflower, but she surely wouldn't have done anything like this.  He really needed to work on his paranoia. (And his sense of humor.)

"Very funny," Leafstar said, turning to the apprentice and shaking his head.  "All right," he began, cutting to the chase, "battle training, right?"

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Heheh. She really had got him good. She was surprised that he actually bought it. But that was probably because she had sold it well. She had been practicing the art of deception for awhile now, she guessed she was getting pretty good at it. “Of course.” Said Hibiscuspaw, looking every inch the cat that swallowed the canary.

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"You should be really careful of that silver tongue of yours," Leafstar said, giving Hibiscuspaw a playful shove as he walked past her out of the den.  "Unless you want to end up being as deceptive as Jellyray."

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Heheheh. Now whoever said she didn’t want to end up as deceptive as Jellyray? Hell, Jellyray was the first warrior she had gone to get a training session from that wasn’t her mentor. A mask of deception was always good to have in handy. She didn’t say a word in regards to Leafstar’s words, merely smirked. Which could speak leagues all on its own really.

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Leafstar led Hibiscuspaw out if the clan camp and headed out into the trees.  His mind flashed to the typical training ground RushingClan used, but decided against it.  Instead, he led the apprentice further into the brush before suddenly stopping.  "Have you eaten yet, Hibiscuspaw?" Leafstar asked absentmindedly.

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“Of course I have.” Said Hibiscuspaw as she walked along. Of course she had. Like she would want to waste her precious training session with Leafstar hunting. Particularly sense her last hunt with him had been… Quite an experience. She wouldn’t take back that experience, but she’d rather not do it when she was looking forward to a fighting training session. 

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/ Should have expected as much, / Leafstar thought to himself.  "Hm, good for you," Leafstar murmured. "Bad for me. I haven't had anything to eat from the freshkill pile yet."  Leafstar turned to face Hibiscuspaw and raised an expectant eyebrow. 

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"Oh yes my all mighty puppet master. I shall go fetch something for you immediately." She said as she gave a phony how and ran back to camp. It would be quicker to do that rather than hunt something herself. And quick was key here for her.

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Leafstar ran after Hibiscuspaw to stop her, but then stopped himself.  His original plan was to get her to go hunting. However her running off to get food and then running back could still work in his favor.  Realizing this, Leafstar hurried to run farther into the forest away from this spot and buried himself in the cover of a bunch of ferns.  Leafstar laid there in hiding to await for if and when Hibiscuspaw found him.

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By the time she had returned, Leafstar was of course not there. Hibiscuspaw had to take a moment to process what had happened. Either he had gone off to hunt for his own food or… This was just like what Speckledcrest had done with her. A little bit of tracking. Hibiscuspaw put the prey down and buried it under a thin layer of dirt to hide it from other predators. Even so… There was a chance it would be found. But that’s what Leafstar got for deciding he’d rather play hide and seek on an empty stomach than eat.

 Well she could play this game for as long as needed. If Leafstar actually had the time to pull something like this then so be it. And it wasn’t like Seapaw was going to find either of them.

 Hibiscuspaw had done quite a bit since that training session with Speckledcrest. Which had given her idea. And what an idea it was…But that was aside the point right now.

 Hibiscuspaw, managing to find the general direction Leafstar had been running from a faint scent trail, followed, attempting to use all her senses to find any trace of him.

 The she-cat had to admit, she actually did like a good hunt. It was just that it wasn’t helpful to the goals in life she had in mind right now. She had her ambitions, and those deviated towards more being a great fighter.

She crept along as quietly as she could. He didn't know where he was, so he shouldn't know where she was either.

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Leafstar waited patiently under the ferns that surrounded him. In all honesty, it probably wasn't fair what he was doing. Leafstar, himself, thought what he was planning was a bit silly to begin with. Still.  He had his own reasons, and it'd be fun (perhaps) nonetheless.

Hearing the quiet pawsteps and the rustling of overhanging leaves, the tortoiseshell directed his attention forward. He saw Hibiscuspaw wander just past him. She wasn't carrying any prey with her.  Leafstar figured she'd probably left it somewhere back where they had separated from each other. 

Leafstar leaped out of his hiding spot.  Catching the apprentice off-guard, he jumped on her back, bit down on her scruff, and pulled her down to the ground. While Hibiscuspaw was still dazed, Leafstar made a run to find the prey she'd hidden.

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He’d found her before she had found him. It seemed her extra training was still falling short, unfortunately. She couldn’t allow stuff like that to happen. She still had a lot more work to do. Hibiscuspaw got up. Her back was a bit sore from having faced the weight of the tom, but she was quite good at ignoring pain, and so was on his tail in a manner of five seconds.

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Leafstar quickly arrived at the spot and was rummaging around for the prey. Finding its scent, he started to dig for the freshkill and take it for himself.  But he didn't have enough time. Hibiscuspaw had already caught up. When she arrived, Leafstar simply hissed and spat at her.

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Hibiscuspaw did not pause for a second once Leafstar had stopped in his place over the prey she had brought for him. She got it by now. This was fight time. And she wasn’t going to give any quarter. She charged at him, attempting to headbutt his shoulder as hard as she could.

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Leafstar didn't bother dodging Hibiscuspaw's charge. He assumed she would be expecting that. Instead, the tom braced himself and once she'd collided into him, he took a short step back and swung his paw down towards Hibiscuspaw's ear.

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Hibiscuspaw’s charge came to a sudden halt as he braced himself against her. As his paw went up to go down on her ear, her paw went up in an attempt to “rake” at his underside. She was keeping her claws sheathed for now. 

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Hibiscuspaw's strikes hit Leafstar's chest and underbelly, knocking the wind out of him, but it wasn't enough to keep him from stopping his own attack.  His paw hit squarely on Hibiscuspaw.  Jumping back to avoid another blow from the apprentice, he ran around her in a circle and stared at her from the other end of the little clearing.

/ She keeps rushing in headfirst into everything / Leafstar thought inwardly.

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Hibiscuspaw had to keep herself from smiling at this juncture, and kept her expression the same look of ferocity she had had since the battle begun. She began a circling motion, an arc that would steadily lead to Leafstar should he stay in place

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Leafstar kept his gaze steady on Hibiscuspaw. As she neared him, he started to walk in a steady circle away from her, the two cats circling each other.  Leafstar was waiting for Hibiscuspaw to make the first move and, in the meantime, was nearing the freshkill again.

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Hibiscuspaw didn’t originally get that his goal was to get at the freshkill, but as she saw him turning along with the circle she made, she got it. “You realize that the moment you try and eat that you’ll be vulnerable, riiiight?” 

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Leafstar hissed in return.  He wasn't sure what his endgame was, but he was glad to see Hibiscuspaw talking her way through it. "Who said anything about this being about the prey?" Leafstar growled.

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"I was just guessing." Said Hibiscuspaw with a shrug. That did lead her to an interesting thought though. Was this about something more than just a fighting session? No. No way. It was just a  fighting session.

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It didn't appear as though Hibiscuspaw was going to charge at him again. Leafstar glanced at the freshkill once more.  Taking a chance, he dashed to the prey and picked it up and made to run away into the trees again, expecting Hibiscuspaw to follow.

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Wrong Hibi. This isn't a fight with the others, and you better start remembering that. Said the little voice Hibi's thoughts to her as she pursued the tom-cat.

 

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Leafstar ran for a while, prey still in his mouth, with Hibiscuspaw still on his tail.  He skidded to a sudden stop so she would bump into him and fall back.  The tom then turned to face the apprentice, dropped the prey, and said with a growl, "What's your next move?  What's your plan here?"

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Hibiscuspaw made a mental note to herself to not follow to close when she pursued someone. If he had decided to buck her in the face rather than just stop that could have hurt a lot. Hibiscuspaw attempted to slap Leafstar in the direction he had turned, trying to keep him going on the momentum of his quick and abrupt turn. She then attempted to go for a combo move and tackle him while his balance was hopefully off kilter. 

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Hibiscuspaw's strike had caught Leafstar off guard; he fell back and felt the apprentice's backpawd kick into his underside.  Leafstar grabbed her with his front paws and bucked hus back legs, kicking Hibiscuspaw away. 

Leafstar struggled to his feet and turned to face Hibiscuspaw.  He grumbled to himself; it didn't look like Hibiscuspaw was one to talk much in a confrontation.

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Hibiscuspaw’s reasoning for not responding was simple- to tell your opponent your next move, even if it was merely a sparring session, was a very bad idea. And a distraction as well. Her fighting style required her to use her wit, and she couldn’t afford to divert her attention, particularly against such a skilled opponent.

She fell back at his buck, trying to catch the breath that had been knocked out of her and ready herself for a charge.

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Leafstar had to give the little apprentice credit. She was a tenacious fighter, and a good one at that.  But he wasn't the same straightforward cat he used to be back in the old days.  No. He wasn't going to make the first move, even here. Especially here.  Leafstar's tail swished back and forth in anticipation of Hibiscuspaw's next move.

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Hibiscuspaw, in seeing that Leafstar, unlike most, wasn’t taking the opportunity to pounce at her while she was down, got up after a moment more to catch her breath. Most if not all warriors had done so whenever she’d been knocked down. She herself had figured out a move to somewhat take advantage of the scenari 

A move it seemed she wouldn’t get to show off today… Ah well.

The fluffy apprentice padded towards him cautiously. If she was going to get a hit in she was going to have to think about it. Uhh…. She wasn’t sure what to do at this juncture. He was far more experienced than her… Ummm… Aaaahh… Hibiscuspaw took a step back, then another,then hid under some foliage, attempting to hide well enough so that she could slip from his detection. Sneak attack. Maybe? 

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"Well at least she's finally using her head," Leafstar thought.  It was pleasant to see her not impulsively attacking head on as she had done before.  At the very least, in a way, it was a step in the direction Leafstar was hoping Hibiscuspaw would take.

 He knew he should probably be more worried about where the apprentice had gone and what she would do, but maybe some of Leafstar's own pride was stealing through. He remained calm, his body relaxed, and instead trained his ears to listen for where and when Hibiscuspaw would attack.

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Mmm… Where to attack. Back would be a bit too predictable and if he sensed her there it could turn out quite unfortunate as he bucked her in the face. Mmm… She’d try to jump on him… Yah, she’d do that. Hibiscuspaw attempted to pounce on his back, then put a paw on his head to force his head down to make it harder for him to bronco her off, hopefully.

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Hibiscuspaw's pounce was successful, even moreso with how relaxed Leafstar's stature was.  Leafstar was somewhat prepared for this.  He had purposefully relaxed his body so any assault by Hibiscuspaw wouldn't be as blunt and painful as it would have if he'd remained stiff. However, he would have much rather preferred not having his face thrown down into the dirt.  Still.  Leafstar tried to use their combined momentum to his advantage. As they both fell, Leafstar tried to roll back over to use his size to pin Hibiscuspaw down to the ground.

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Why was it every time she ended up in some position like this she felt the impulse to tickle the cat? Hibiscuspaw, naturally, resisted this temptation and attempted to headbutt Leafstar’s chin. (The she-cat was hard headed in more ways than one)

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Leafstar backed his head and chest up to keep away from Hibiscuspaw’s headbutt, but he didn’t let up his grip on her.  He placed a paw over her chest to keep her from escaping from him.  Leafstar sighed a little.  “Are you done?”

“Hey! You don’t get to sigh like that, you started this whole fight!” To be fair, she’d asked for it, but she dind’t like that sigh of his. It was annoying to the extreme.

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Leafstar backed off of Hibiscuspaw, letting the apprentice up.  He took a couple steps back, moreso to give the she-cat space rather than as preparation for continuing the fight.  "You know there's more to fighting and being a warrior than charging headfirst into any conflict, right?" Leafstar asked the apprentice.  "Not once did you bother to ask what I was doing."

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“It was pretty obvious, why would I need to?” Snapped Hibiscuspaw at him, standing up as she spoke. They were having a fighting training session. It was a no brainer why he was fighting her, there was no need to ask. “A fighting training session requires fighting.” 

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"Is this how all of your other training sessions go?" Leafstar sneered.  "Redflower or any of our other warriors just walk and hide away after agreeing to train you?" 

Leafstar squared his shouders and stood tall and stiff.  "Think of what just happened as a... roleplay," Leafstar settled on.  "If I was a stranger cat on the territory, would you immediately attack them without a second thought?" 

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“No, but you’re not a stranger cat. You’re a cat who agreed to train me in fighting.” She had tried hunting Speckledcrest once, she had figured it might have been something like that. Like, come find me. “And it wasn’t like you just wandered off. You wandered off THEN ambushed me. You attacked me first. In that case I would attack back. Because you ambushed me. In this theoretical scenario you weren’t just some random stranger cat, you were some random stranger cat that attacked me first.”

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Leafstar took a deep breath, but held back another sigh that he knew would probably upset Hibiscuspaw even more.  "Yes, I attacked you first, but I retreated right afterwards.  I hardly attacked again after that except in retaliation."

His voice rose slightly as Leafstar flicked his tail.  "I even gave you a chance when I paused and asked YOU what YOU were planning on doing, but instead you tackled me." 

"Regardless who attacks first, a warrior needs to find out what her opponent's intentions are, sooner rather than later.  It might save a lot of trouble and a lot or injuries from happening at all." 

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“You don’t tell an opponent what your next move is, that’s just stupid!” Hibiscuspaw hissed at him. “And maybe YOU should have made your intentions clear to begin with. The intention to begin with was a fight training session, you can’t blaim me for thinking that it was what it was. What the hell is roleplaying anyways?!?”

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Pausing to take a minute to think of a response, Leafstar regarded Hibiscuspaw with an expressionless stare.  He closed his eyes and softened his gaze.  "Think of it as playing pretend, like something you would do as a kit. 

"Either way, a fighting training session is what you wanted and that is what you got.  Unconventional, but you got one.  I will give it to you that you were more patient afterwards and trying to ambush me was a good idea.  But still.  You have a good head on you, Hibiscuspaw.  Use it."

Wait? Was it already over? It felt like it had barely begun! And again with the kit games?! What was it with these warriors and kit games? “Is that it? Your training session? That was the shortest ever.”

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Leafstar raised his eyebrow.  His tail swished around back and forth.  "What more do you want?" Leafstar asked.  "Like I said, there's more to fighting than just charging into battle or fancy fighting techniques.  Besides, I was being serious earlier.  I still haven't eaten yet."

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“I was actually counting on that.” Hibiscuspaw said with a pfft. She had known that Leafstar hadn’t eaten yet, and so was hoping he’d be running on fumes soon. That’d make it a lot easier to take him down. Sure, it wasn’t fighting fair. But it was fighting smart, considering he was a leader with far more experience than she. 

Hibiscuspaw wanted a whole lot more from the leader, but she figured she might as well at least wait until he had eaten before pressing. “I also wanna learn more about that Merchant thing we talked about last time.” She hadn’t really heard anything about it around camp, she might as well learn more about it from the source.

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"Oh, right," Leafstar stammered.  His eyes darted away for a second.  He'd completely forgotten about that.  It honestly wasn't a big deal, especially at this point.  "We can talk more about that," Leafstar said walking over to the freshkill from before.  It wasn't exactly clean by now, but he didn't mind all that much.  "After I've eaten."

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“Okay.” Hibiscuspaw meowed, padding by the prey in question and waiting for him to start and finish eating so she could hear more about it.

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Leafstar took a big bite into the freshkill and swallowed.  After another, smaller, bite, he looked back at Hibiscuspaw.  "So why are you interested in this again?"

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Hibscuspaw shrugged. It had been the only thing that was actually in the present that was keeping the leader busy, and she wanted to know what this actually was. “Just curious.” Said the she-cat .

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"Well," Leafstar said, taking a moment to answer the apprentice, "as you know, the volcano had a huge impact on all of the clans, but even more on RushingClan.  Most of our prey and herbs in particular were hit hard by the event.

 

"Palmstar of SharkClan suggested organizing new trade agreements between all three of the clans."  Leafstar took another big bite out of the freshkill.  Without looking up, he continued.  "Our "Merchant" cat is supposed to handle these trades and make sure everything runs smoothly.  It's really just an unofficial rank.  Jellyray and I have mostly been dealing with it."

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“Mmmm….” Hibiscuspaw looked up to the sky, thinking quietly to herself. Things really were peaceful between the clans if something like this could exist. “Interesting.”

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Leafstar looked in Hibiscuspaw's direction, raising an eyebrow.  "Interested in the position?"

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“Don’t know.” Said Hibiscuspaw. She did like the idea of her being able to do something a bit different for the clan, to have a purpose beyond the norm. But she wasn’t sure about it. She shrugged, trying to look not that interested, despite having said mere moments ago that it was interesting. 

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"If you are interested in the role," Leafstar began in an even tone, "you will need to work on your impulses.  We need a cat who's level-headed to work with cats from the other clans."

Level headed… She was a long way off from being anywhere close to level headed. This didn’t seem like a job she was suited for. The apprentice very well knew how hotheaded she was, and snarky too. She doubted such traits were good in a dioplamatic position such as this. “Doesn’t really sound like I’d be cut out for the gig then.” Said Hibiscuspaw, looking at the ground. She did have her plans for her future, but she didn’t feel like she could at any point be the diplomat that the Merchant position would call her to be.

“Mmm.” Hibiscuspaw meowed in acknowledgement at what he said. What apprentice didn’t have potential though?  That was pretty much the definition of an apprentice. “Perhaps.” She did have her plans… My how glorious they would be once she finally acted on them. The clan would be astounded. There were those, but there was more to worry about. But for now… Meh. That was a long way off. Probably not for another two moons, if she was lucky.

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"Thinking about a lot?" Leafstar mused as he stood up.  The entire time they'd been talking, Leafstar had the impression that Hibiscuspaw was... plotting something.  Certainly nothing devious, Leafstar thought, but the apprentice looked like she had a lot on her mind.  "Anyway, we should be heading back to camp now."

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“I guess you could say that.” Said Hibiscuspaw, answering the question while not develing deep into it. It wouldn’t do to have anyone knowing her plans. No it wouldn’t. “We should I guess.” Said Hibiscuspaw as she stood up.

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Leafstar remained silent as he led the both of them back to RushingClan camp.  Hibiscuspaw did about as well as he'd expected for her to perform in his unorthodox training session, but he'd hoped for better.  Indeed, he noticed that he seemed to either expect the worse in his clanmates or the best.  There was no inbetween. 

His mind flashed briefly back to earlier in the morning when Hibiscuspaw had bluffed that she'd drugged Redflower.  It was a harmless little prank.  But still one that sent a little shiver up his spine.  "So what were you tihnking about?" Leafstar asked, breaking the silence.

"If I should just go hunting rather than go back to camp." It had crossed her mind while she had been walking with him. So it wasn't a complete lie. She had been thinking about that. It just didn't have anything to do with her plans. She meanwhile wondered if Leafstar might follow her on her hunt if she did so... In the shadows. It'd be weird, but it wouldn't be too terrible. She knew what she wanted to be able to do before she became a warrior, and being able to tell when someone was stalking her was one of those things.

He'd make good practice.

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"Hmm," Leafstar mumbled, skeptical.  Secrets.  He was used to cats keeping secrets.  He had more than a lifetime's share of that training alongside Jellyray when they were both apprentices.  Whether this was one to concern himself with remained to be seen. 

"Well, you can go off hunting if you want," Leafstar said.  "I'm heading back to camp."

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“Bye.” Said Hibiscuspaw, padding off, but keeping alert and on guard in case Leafstar decided to follow her.

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Leafstar watched her run off.  He stayed a while, deciding on whether he should follow her or not.  But he eventually decided to let her go; he'd already proven to himself he could be too paranoid remembering his gullibility earlier with Redflower.  / Besides / Leafstar reasoned, / how much trouble could Hibiscuspaw really get into? /

Leafstar turned away and padded his way back to camp.